The present invention pertains to the tobacco industry and may be used in the production of smokers"" articles that include a mouthpiece and consist of a new product conjugating the functional properties and qualities both of cigarettes with a cardboard mouthpiece and of filter cigarettes.
Known in the art are different types of cigarettes that have in common a tobacco rod wrapped in a sleeve made of cigarette paper, a shortened paper mouthpiece and an autonomous, immovable and solid filter member, wherein all the elements being connected so as to shape a single article by a paper ring overlapping a portion of the tobacco rod, the filter member and the mouthpiece; U.S. Pat. No. 3,498,299, IPC A24D 1/04, 1970; GB Pat. 2,203,324, IPC A24D 1/04, 1988.
Also known in the art is a cigarette with a movable filter member, which consists of a tobacco rod wrapped in a sleeve made of cigarette paper and a paper mouthpiece connected thereto; the said mouthpiece contains a nylon or polyethylene filter member made in the shape of a sliding piston moving inside the mouthpiece with raise in the smoke pressure during smoking and adjusting the volume of air inflow; additional filter members, made of acetate fiber, may be arranged at the inlet end or at the outlet end of the mouthpiece; GB Pat. 1,330,936, IPC A24D 1/04, 1973.
Also known in the art are cigarettes having a paper mouthpiece and a shortened tobacco rod wrapped in a sleeve made of cigarette paper and connected with the said mouthpiece with a paper ring; DE Pat. 1,782,478, IPC A24D 1/04, 1975. Known in the art are cigarettes containing a paper mouthpiece connected by a paper ring with a tobacco rod wrapped in a sleeve made of cigarette paper, wherein a cylindrical insert with holes is arranged in the mouthpiece and shapes two combustion chambers for smoke and the said mouthpiece has holes for air inflow along its perimeter; DE Pat. 1,278,914, IPC A24D 1/04, 1968; FR Pat. 2,497,636, IPC A24D 1/04, 1982.
Also known in the art are cigarettes containing a tobacco rod wrapped in a sleeve made of cigarette paper and a tubular filter member adjacent to the said tobacco rod, one end of the said filter member having a bottom part with a slot therein, which is connected to the said end of the tobacco rod, and the other end of the filter member is open and may have a solid additional filter member closing the said opened end; U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,682, IPC A24D 1/04, 1990.
The common feature of all the above cigarettes is that the filter member or the shortened mouthpiece is held between the lips, and the cigarette is held between fingers in the area of the tobacco rod or at the point of its junction with the filter member. Such smoking leads to yellowing of the fingers"" skin and nails, and in a case where a cigarette is held by the shortened mouthpiece only, fingers touch the lips, which is undesirable. In a wet weather cigarette paper of the tobacco rod, as in contact with wet fingers, is destroyed and one has to smoke cigarettes holding them by the thumb and the forefinger only by the shortened mouthpiece, which is often not convenient and not hygienic, since fingers touch the portion of the mouthpiece that is intended to be held by the lips.
The said disadvantages are partially eliminated by a smokers"" article of another type, which is a cigarette with a cardboard mouthpiece. Such a cigarette has an elongated cardboard mouthpiece intended for holding the cigarette with fingers without touching the tobacco rod and allows not to touch its portion that is intended for holding by the lips.
However, smokers"" articles in the shape of cigarettes with an elongated cardboard mouthpiece of high quality and with an advanced filter member are not widely used by now.
Known in the art is a smokers"" article consisting of a tobacco rod wrapped in a sleeve made of cigarette paper, an elongated cardboard mouthpiece and an autonomous immovable solid filter member located in the outlet portion of the mouthpiece, the latter being connected to the tobacco rod with a paper ring; U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,450, IPC A24D 1/04, 1970; SU Pat. 259745, IPC A24D 1/04, 1970.
This smokers"" article is not widely used because the tubular mouthpiece made of paper gets wet, collapsed, and the smoke may bypass the filter member, going between the exterior surface of the filter member and the paper mouthpiece overlapping it.
It is an object of this invention to create a smokers"" article of new type having advantages of both usual cigarettes and cigarettes with a cardboard mouthpiece, but, at the same time, having no disadvantages peculiar to the both commonly known types of smokers"" articles.
This object is attained in a smokers"" article that comprises a tobacco rod wrapped in a separate sleeve made of cigarette paper and an elongated and resilient mouthpiece which is connected to the said rod and has the size of a cardboard mouthpiece (that is, the tubular part of a mouthpiece exceeds 40 mm). The mouthpiece is made of a pressed fibrous material and includes a filter member which is arranged on the tobacco rod side, is integral with the tubular portion of the mouthpiece and is made in the shape of a continuous cylinder having a diameter equal to that of the mouthpiece tubular portion. The length of the said mouthpiece exceeds that of the tobacco rod, and the length of the said cylindrical filter member is at least half as great as the length of the tobacco rod and at least one third as great as the length of the said tubular portion of the mouthpiece. The tobacco rod is connected to the elongated mouthpiece with a paper ring overlapping, at least, the surface of the cylindrical filter member, and the fibrous material of the mouthpiece is pressed to such a degree so as to ensure restoration of the tubular portion open flow area after removal of compressive load under which the tubular portion has been fully compressed.
As a material for making a resilient mouthpiece and, consequently, a cylindrical filter member acetate fiber may be used, which is used for making cigarette filter members.
An additional filter member made of activated carbon or the like materials may be arranged between the tobacco rod and the cylindrical filter member.
An additional filter member may be also arranged behind the cylindrical filter member inside the tubular portion of the mouthpiece.
The said resilient and elongated mouthpiece made of a pressed fibrous material may be wrapped in a paper sleeve, and the said paper ring may be connected with a glue to the outer surface of the said paper sleeve.
The resilient and elongated mouthpiece made of a pressed fibrous material may have the plasticized outer surface that enables not to enclose it in an additional paper sleeve, since a plasticized surface is free from roughness peculiar to a fibrous structure and protects the outer surface of fibers from splitting during smoking.
As a plasticizer a polyvinyl acetate emulsion may be used, which is a product obtained by polymerizing vinyl acetate in an aqueous medium under heating in the presence of an emulsifier. Also, other plasticizers may be used which are compatible with a given fibrous material of the tubular mouthpiece and capable of forming a thin, smooth and monolith layer with outer fibers of the said fibrous material. This procedure of making completely prevents smoke from passing through the mouthpiece without entering the filter member.
A resilient and elongated mouthpiece made of a pressed fibrous material and having the plasticized outer surface may have a ring section not covered with a plasticizer and arranged after the paper ring to ensure additional air inflow when smoking.
Such a smokers"" article ensures a high intake of substances contained in smoke, i.e. nicotine, tars, etc., since it has a large active adsorbing surface area.
The fact that the cylindrical filter member is integral with the mouthpiece and consists of the same fibrous material prevents the smoke from flowing without undergoing a filtration cycle in the mouthpiece and also prevents tobacco chips from falling therein. The selected proportions of the smokers"" article elements ensure comfort and hygiene when smoking, and the mouthpiece ensures the possibility of holding the article with fingers without touching the lips while smoking and without contact between fingers and the portion held by the lips. The use of a fibrous material for the mouthpiece ensures restoration of its shape after squeezing the mouthpiece with fingers, the smoke, while passing through the said fibrous material cools down, the fibrous structure of the mouthpiece ensures retention of heat and absorption of the lips"" moisture, keeping the outer surface dry (mouthpieces made of cigarette paper and cigarette filter members wrapped in cigarette paper get wet during smoking).